Propane heater

[TradLife406]

Anyone using a little buddy in their tipi style tents? I've got a stove but for truck camping it'd be easier to just turn a heater on.

Ive got an Argali 4p so it wouldn't take much to warm it up.

Whats a good model?

Figure a tipi is basically an ice fishing shelter and everyone uses propane for those.

Did a search for old posts. Most were four years old.

 

[Mangata]

I use the little buddy 3800 BTU heater to warm up the tent in the am in my arctic oven.
Pros; Heats the tent up quickly, compact, simple, runs longer than expected on the green bottle.
Cons; not the most stable platform ever made and thus prone to tipping if not careful in placement, always the possibility of CO poisoning and death if run all night long…

 

[Wprinkle]

I used one once in a Kifaru Supertarp. Not sure the correct words but it was a very wet heat. Very hot and humid/wet unlike a dry heat of a wood stove.

 

[SwiftShot]

Propane will throw out a lot of moisture.

 

[Paladin]

I've got the Kovea Cupid and it works great. It's nice to be able to roll over and turn it on and let it warm the tent up for a few minutes before you get out of the bag. I've never used it all night so I can't comment on that. Most I have ever needed it is maybe 20 minutes because it will heat up a 4 man tent fast. It is moist heat but for that amount of time it hasn't been an issue for me.

 

[brian wagar]

Propane heat is wet and clammy, hate it wood stove is the ticket....

 

[Pulleye16]

it'll be okay at best. I'd at least run a normal Buddy size heater minimum. That said, and as mentioned, CO is going to be your biggest threat. I'd have a CO detector in any area. Unstable as someone mentioned and running pounders is going to suck.

 

[Mangata]

Agree that propane is the less optimal heat source but without wood options are limited…
If you work within the limitations of the heat source the buddy heaters are a viable source that is better than nothing!! The way we run our little buddy has never caused a humidity or moisture problem in the tent.
For sure to be vigilant to avoid possibilities of CO poisoning.

 

[MallardSX2]

As long as you have a small fresh air source coming into your tent, a heater buddy is not going to kill you. There have been 1 million tests on this.

One guy ran one for eight hours inside of a truck cab on high…. Never triggered the oxygen or the CO2 meters.

 

[chizelhead]

Buddy heaters are “indoor-safe” propane radiant units with low-oxygen and tip-over shutoffs. Buddy heaters have a catalyst which ostensibly eliminates CO. A tipi should have good air circulation, so I wouldn't worry too much about CO2. I don't have condensation issues. I could imagine a floorless tent with a moist ground could create a lot of condensation. I use a buddy heater in a tent where I can't run a wood stove, and I'm at the truck. It works great for morning and evening. I have a larger one and connect it to a 5 gal propane tank. I run a hose to the tank outside the tent to save space. If I were starting from scratch, I’d also look at a diesel heater for drier, ducted heat.